Some Good Themes For Your Opening

We live in an information and image saturated, fast-paced, vivid culture. Entertainment
value is a concern of anyone seeking to penetrate and hold the attention of
an audience. Audience attention passes swiftly. Isn’t the channel changer the
cultural icon of our age? Speakers need openings that immediately engage the
audience and hold their attention for as long as needed to deliver their message.
Here are a few suggestions for themes that can be developed into arresting openings.

Tell a story. The best stories are about real people.
Keep stories short. Include vivid details. Great stories are those the audience
can "feel" (See Bringing Stories Into Your Presentations).

Use an analogy. An analogy compares or contrasts
things or concepts that may not be related ("life is like a baseball game").
Good analogies are found by thinking outside the confines of the subject matter
of a presentation. They permit presentation of topics through the language,
structure, and imagery of topics that a particular audience may like more
or may find more familiar.

Use descriptive or vivid statistics. There are many
sources of interesting statistics on most any subject. If you use statistics,
don’t just report raw data. Use such data sparingly. Be sure that there is
a specific point that can be clearly and directly inferred from the
data. If possible, convert the statistics and use them in a visual format.

Use props or visual aids. A classic example was
Vice President Gore’s press conference announcing his Commission to reduce
government regulation with a seven foot tall stack of papers that represented
the regulations of a particular department. The image said it all. Youcan be your own prop. Remember astronaut John Glenn representing how
small a distance into space his first orbital flight was by holding his hand
just a few inches above his head.

Use an audience participation event. This can be very
effective in getting an audience engaged, especially if they have been sitting
too long or are otherwise restless.The simplest form is
to ask for a show-of-hands on a question.

Use a quote. Use it directly, paraphrase, or build
your own opening off the theme or meter of a favorite quote. Some very effective
"quotes" to which many audiences can relate are in song lyrics. If you use
song lyrics, use small amounts and resist the temptation to sing unless you
are very good.

Talk about something that is universally experienced.
One example—time. How many great speeches opened with
a reference to time? [FDR, JFK, Lincoln]

Pose a provocative question to the audience. If
you chose to pose a question to the audience as an opening, it must go somewhere.
Either you must truly present it (e.g. poll the audience) or you must answer
it in your presentation.

Make an historical reference. History is a broad
canvas with many potential events and characters (some well known, some less
so) that one may be able to fit to a particular audience or its interests.
What did happen today in history? Many web sites will answer this question.

Talk about the audience. There are few topics about
which an audience has more interest than themselves (e.g. their organization,
history, city, etc.) especially if it is a fresh (and flattering) perspective
they have not heard before.

Using Humor. Humor is a very connecting devise if
used successfully. In some situations, people expect a presentation to include
some humor. But humor doesn’t necessarily mean "telling a joke" nor does it
have to be your opening move. To see more on this topic see The Effective
Use of Humor).